+aiiiimmiiE]iiiiiiiiiiiiraiiiimiiiiiNi  iiiiuiiiiiiiiiiitE3iiiiiiiiiiiiuiiiiiiiiiinEaiiiiiiiiiiiic« 

—  — 

I  | 

|         Protest  Against  the  j 

1              Cruel  War  1 

I                              or  | 

r-i  — 
M 

Propaganda  to  Create  a  Strong  | 

Public  Opinion  Against  the  War  I 

by 

PETER  FILO  SCHULTE 

Scholar  in  Monistic  Philosophy 


* 


* 


2 


1 

i 


3  2 

j  | 

|                          CEDAR  RAPIDS,  IOWA  | 
Published  by  the  Author 

|  1916 

|  I 

5:illlll!»UIUIIIII!llllllC3(lllllllllliailllllllllllC3IIIMinililC:i!!MIIIIIIIUII!IIHIIIIIC3IIIIIIIIIIIIC? 


Lord,  what  fools  these  mortals  be! 

— Shakespeare. 


CONTENTS 

Page 


1.  Protest  Against  the  War   5 

2.  The  Sane  Attitude  For  America  to 

Take  Toward  the  War   6 

3.  Are  Wars  Defensible?  10 

4.  Think  ,  12 

5.  Do  the  People  Want  War!  15 

6.  Facts  and  Figures  About  World-Life  18 

7.  The  New  World-Religion   22 

8.  The  Ideals  of  Monism  27 

9.  A  Few  Words  to  Peace  Advocates..  .....29 

10.  The  Outcome  of  the  War.  Twenty 

Years  Hence  32 

11.  How  Permanent  Peace  May  Be  Attained. .35 

12.  A  Prayer  For  Enlightenment  and 

Peace  ...  '.XX-Z-Z^X  42 

13.  Monistic  Ideals  43 


Public  opinion — expressed  through  the  press 
and  in  speeches — is  a  dynamic  force,  which,  if 
sufficiently  strong,  determines  the  actions  of  na- 
tions. If  opinions  were  unanimous  against  the 
present  cruel  war  it  would  not  be. 

We  earnestly  ask  the  support  of  every  person 
who  receives  this  pamphlet  to  use  his  effort  in 
words  and  writing  to  create  opinions  against  the 
war.  Papers  and  magazines  are  asked  to  publish 
extracts  freely  from  this  pamphlet.  Those  not 
agreeing  with  the  Monistic  view  of  life  as  pre- 
sented in  this  pamphlet  are,  nevertheless,  asked 
to  agree  With  the  spirit  of  opposition  to  war. 

Forward,  all  ye  faithful, 
Seeking  love  and  peace, 
Hasten  on  the  era 

When  all  wars  shall  cease. 
— M.  K.  Schermerhorn. 


minium  mum  urn  mmiiiimiimiiiiimiiiiiiiiiimiiiiimmmiii  iiiiiiiimmimmiimimmmiiiimimmiiiiiiiii 

iiiiiiiiiiiiimiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimiimimiiimiiiiiiiiimmimi  mini  mum  m  iiinini  mi  mum 

1.    PROTEST  AGAINST  THE  WAR. 
TT  rE  peace  advocates  think  America  ought  to 


make  more  effort  to  pacify  the  nations  at 


war  and  bring  this  fearful  and  stupid 
war  to  a  close.  When  "Nero  fiddled  while  Rome 
burned ' '  we  think  of  that  as  an  abomination.  For 
America  to  seek  profit  from  the  war,  or  to  remain 
indifferent  while  the  world  is  on  fire,  in  which  not 
only  property  is  destroyed,  but  human  lives  by  the 
hundred-thousands,  is  also  an  abomination. 

We  pity  the  people  of  Europe.  It  grieves  us 
to  see  that  there  is  war  among  people  we  love.  It 
makes  us  feel  sad  to  see  the  appalling  and  gigantic 
amount  of  killing,  suffering  and  misery. 

The  evils  of  the  war — the  killing,  mutilation, 
suffering,  destruction  of  property  and  the  misery 
and  hardships  that  prevail  are  fearful  and  appal- 
ling and  of  gigantic  magnitude.  Life  is  not  always 
too  happy  and  pleasant  under  peaceful  conditions, 
and  there  are  an  abundance  of  evils  to  overcome 
in  times  of  peace ;  but  in  the  Great  War  the  people 
of  Europe  are  simply  making  things  hellish  for 
each  other.  War  is  not  worth  while.  It  is  simply 
awful  to  think  that  millions  of  people,  who  deem 
themselves  civilized,  shoot  at  each  other  with 
guns  and  cannons  to  kill  and  destroy  each  other 


6 


like  the  most  ferocious  savages.  We  should  not 
think  it  possible;  we  should  think  they  would 
drop  their  guns  and  say,  "Let  us  make  peace;  let 
us  go  home;  life  is  too  short  and  often  too  un- 
pleasant without  making  it  worse." 


2.    THE  SANE  ATTITUDE  FOR  AMERICA 
TO  TAKE  TOWARD  THE  WAR.* 

EDITOR'S  NOTE:  The  following  article 
by  Mr.  Schulte  is  written  as  a  denunciation  of, 
war.  It  is  impartial  and  non-partisan  in  its 
statements.  The  author  favors  an  International 
Court  for  the  settlement  of  disputes  arising^  a- 
mong  nations  and  an  international  police  force 
to  enforce  its  decrees. 

CONSIDERED  from  the  standpoint  of  logic, 
an  action  can  only  be  reasonable  or  un- 
reasonable. The  whole  war  is  unreasona- 
ble and  stupid,  and  not  only  that,  but  terrible, 
horrible,  hellish.  For  America  to  take  any  other 
but  a  neutral  attitude  would  be  unreasonable  as 
the  following  consideration  shows. 

That  a  supremacy  of  Germany  would  be  more 
dangerous  than  a  supremacy  of  England  is  non- 
sense, since  one  country  is  just  as  civilized  or 

.u  i*Thi.s  ar^icle  with  the  editor's  note  was  published  under 
the  heading  Unreasonable  War  in  the  August,  1916,  issue  of 
The  World  Court  Magazine. 


7 


just  as  barbarous  as  the  other;  the  percentage  of 
people  literate  is  high  and  nearly  equal  in  both 
countries.  A  supremacy  of  England  and  a  crush- 
ing of  Germany  would  mean  that  England  would 
be  the  ruling  power  over  the  seas  and  over  a 
large  part  of  the  lands  of  the  earth,  and  the 
United  States  would  have  to  take  a  subordinate 
position.  Germany  ruling  the  seas  would  also 
be  undesirable. 

Peace  advocates  are  agreed  that  a  balance 
of  power  is  liable  to  become  unbalanced  at  any 
time  and  lead  to  a  crash.  War  can  only  be  a- 
voided  among  the  nations  most  advanced  in  civi- 
lization by  making  binding  agreements  or  better 
by  forming  a  binding  combination.  It  is,  there- 
fore, best  if  the  war  ends  as  a  tie  and  that  a  com- 
bination or  an  international  government  be 
formed  which  shall  control  the  seas.  In  this 
combination  England,  Germany  and  the  United 
States  would  be  the  dominant  nations.  The  Unit- 
ed States,  in  conjunction  with  other  neutral  na- 
tions, should  try  to  induce  the  nations  at  war 
to  make  peace  and  form  an  equitable  combina- 
tion where  all  nations  will  secure  equal  liberties 
on  the  seas  and  in  international  trade.  The  Unit- 
ed States  should  offer  a  plan  for  an  international 
government  acceptable  to  England  and  Germany 
into  which  these  three  nations  may  enter  on 
equal  terms. 

A  combination  of  nations  can  be  made  bind- 
ing by  the  nations  designating  certain  property, 


8 


territory  and  battleships  as  belonging  to  the  na- 
tions in  common  and  under  the  direct  control  of 
the  International  Government.  To  this  common 
possession  the  United  States,  England  and  Ger- 
many should  consign  possessions  of  equal  value, 
and  the  smaller  nations,  in  proportion  to  repre- 
sentation. To  this  common  possession  should 
belong  the  international  trade  routes. 

For  the  European  nations  to  continue  the 
war  is  savagery.   There  can  be  no  atrocity  worse 
than  the  determination  to  continue  the  war,  which 
means  the  continuation  of  atrocities,  killing,  mut- 
ilation and  destruction.   The  sacrifice  of  life  in  the 
war  is  indefensible  and  irreparable ;  the  destruc- 
tion of  property  and  ships  and  the  cost  are  beyond 
recompense;  why  then  continue  this  horrid  fight? 
That  the  Germans  and  the  English  are  one  any 
more  barbarous  than  the  other  is  nonsense;  that 
there  is  a  difference  of  race  between  them  is  also 
nonsense.    If  England  and  Germany  each  claims 
that  it  is  fighting  for  its  civilization,  both  are  in 
great  error.     The  civilizations  of  England  and 
Germany  differ  only  slightly,  and  the  war  if  con- 
tinued can  only  cause  the  destruction  of  the  Euro- 
pean civilization  and  the  European  people.    It  is 
because  England,  France  and  Germany  are  so 
equal  m  race  and  so  equally  advanced  in  civiliza- 
tion and  in  technical  knowledge  that  the  war  is 
so  disastrous. 

The  American  press  can  influence  with  good 
effect  and  cool  the  ardors  of  the  European  people 


9 


at  war  by  taking  a  neutral  attitude  and  condemn- 
ing the  faults  on  both  sides  for  having  produced 
the  great  catastrophe.  Both  sides  are  to  blame 
for  the  war,  and  America  had  better  let  historians 
decide  which  side  is  to  be  blamed  most.  As  long  as 
the  people  of  a  nation  think  that  they  are  entirely 
in  the  right  and  their  enemies  totally  wrong  they 
will  remain  in  a  fighting  mood. 

One  of  the  reasons  for  continuing  the  war,  ap- 
pears to  be  that  neither  side  wishes  to  make  peace 
until  their  enemies  are  crushed.  The  English  be- 
lieve that  they  must  destroy  German  militarism; 
the  Germans  believe  that  they  must  conquer  the 
Allies  to  secure  peace  in  the  future  and  prevent 
the  recurrence  of  war.  Now  this  is  nonsense.  A 
complete  defeat  of  one  side  or  the  other  means 
a  tremendous  sacrifice  of  life  and  property  beyond 
reparation.  To  continue  the  war  until  one  side  is 
defeated  means  that  most  of  the  able-bodied  men 
on  both  sides  will  be  killed  or  crippled ! 

The  security  and  peace  of  the  future  is  prom- 
ised by  the  establishment  of  an  international  gov- 
ernment. To  make  peace  in  the  future  promising 
and  to  persuade  the  nations  to  consider  peace 
terms,  the  United  States,  as  a  neutral  nation, 
should  take  the  lead  and  declare  its  intention  seri- 
ously to  join  an  international  government  and  to 
work  for  the  establishment  of  the  same. 

Settling  the  war  by  coming  to  agreements  is 
the  civilized,  the  reasonable  way;  fighting  it  out 
is  the  unreasonable,  the  barbarous  way.   For  the 


10 


Tinted  States  to  try  to  settle  the  war  by  entering 
it  would  be  the  unreasonable,  the  barbarous  way; 
to  appeal  to  the  reason  of  the  people  of  the  Eu- 
ropean countries  and  offer  a  plan  by  which  per- 
manent peace  may  be  secured  (to  the  mutual  bene- 
fit of  all  nations)  is  the  reasonable  way,  and  if  the 
European  people  are  reasonable  they  will  listen. 

3.   ARE  WARS  DEFENSIBLE? 

THERE  are  writers  who  tell  us  that  benefits 
and  good  results  may  come  from  wars.  No 
longer  has  any  one  the  impudence  to  tell  us 
that  benefits  may  result  from  quarrels  and  fights 
among  individuals,  but  in  thinking  about  national 
relations  some  people  appear  to  be  still  in  a  stage 
of  savagery.  It  is  interesting  to  make  an  analogy 
between  the  benefits  that  result  from  wars  and  the 
benefits  that  result  from  quarrels  among  individ- 
uals. 

It  is  true  that  some  people  draw  benefit  from 
the  present  war,  as,  for  instance,  money  lenders 
and  the  manufacturers  of  war  materials.  Possi- 
bly the  United  States  may  draw  benefit  from  the 
war  by  capturing  the  trade  of  the  European  na- 
tions. "If  two  quarrel,  the  third  may  be  glad,"  is  a 
saying  that  may  be  true  sometimes,  but  it  is  to  be 
condemned  as  a  moral  precept.  If  I  have  two 
brothers  and  they  quarrel,  and  one  slays  the  other 
my  share  in  my  father's  estate  will  be  much  larg- 


11 


cr.  There  are  many  people  who  secure  benefit 
from  illegitimate  business  and  even  from  crime. 
There  are  people  who  are  eager  to  "rake  in"  pro- 
fits over  the  graves  of  other  people,  but  we  may 
doubt  whether  such  people  are  ever  in  a  happy  or 
peaceful  state  of  mind.  There  can  be  no  justifica- 
tion of  the  present  war  from  the  liioral  standpoint. 
To  speak  of  benefits  of  war  is  to  use  the  logic  of  a 
criminal — of  a  giant  criminal  at  that. 

Also  some  writers  tell  us  that  war  stimulates 
the  manly  virtues ;  as,  courage,  valor,  self-reliance, 
self-sacrifice,  etc.  The  good  influence  of  war  in 
this  direction  is  very  small  and  is  greatly  over- 
shadowed by  the  increase  of  the  brutal  and  crim- 
inal instincts.  War  hardens  the  sympathy  for  the 
misery  and  sufferings  of  others.  Even  in  those  not 
engaged  in  actual  fighting,  the  war  stimulates  hate 
and  deadens  sympathy,  so  that  people  get  so  accus- 
tomed to  tragedies  that  they  enjoy  seeing  them  on 
the  stage  and  in  moving  pictures.  Sympathy  or 
compassion  for  the  sufferings  of  other  people 
must  be  considered  as  the  greatest  virtue  by  those 
who  believe  in  the  spirit  of  brotherhood  among 
men  Sympathy  is  all  too  rare  or  there  would  not 
be  so  much  brutality  and  lack  of  good-wdl  among 

Pe°PCourage  is  vicious  when  it  is  displayed  for 
selfish  aims  or  in  destruction  as  in  wars.  Courage 
is  virtuous  only  when  it  is  displayed  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  just,  the  true,  the  good  and  the  beau- 
tiful- 


12 


I 


4.  THINK. 

F  people  stopt  to  think  what  injury  they  inflict 
in  war  on  others,  endowed  with  feeling  just 
like  themselves,  they  would  desist.  In  attempt- 
ing to  kill  others,  men  in  the  war  also  expose  them- 
selves to  the   danger  of  meeting   instant  death. 
"You  do  not  want  to  stop  to  think,"  said  a  Civil 
War  veteran  to  me,  who  was,  however,  kindheart- 
ed  in  civil  life.    While  those  engaged  in  actual 
fighting  cannot  stop  to  think,  lest  they  go  raving 
mad,  we  should  expect  people  not  in  the  fighting 
to  be  able  to  think.  Surely  there  is  a  way  to  avoid 
this  slaughtering,  in  the  present  state  of  civiliza- 
tion, if  we  only  try  to  understand  the  situation. 
Since  the  people  in  Europe  are  in  a  war  and  can- 
not stop  to  think,  it  behooves  us  in  America  to 
think. 

The  philosopher  Schopenhauer  stated :  <  <  The 
more  life  is  perfected,  i.  e,  advanced  in  the  scale 
ol  intelligence,  the  unhappier  it  becomes.  Man 
who  is  capable  of  conceiving  ideas  suffers  infinite- 
ly more  than  the  ignorant  brute  "* 
ih»  „A  frf  ^mPathy  for  his  fellow  men  is 
f it  n  °f  thQ  !maSinati™  and  the  reasoning 
taculty.    Courage  m  war  means  the  suppression 

is  cttV  aCUltr  °f  intellect-  Sn2^£S£ 
is  certainly  not  a  virtue    p0ftniA  i„  i  Jf 

«W  not  have  the  Zr* 

•Quoted  from  Weber's  History  „f  Philosophy. 


13 


Every  thinking  intellectual  person,  who  has 
sympathy  for  suffering  humanity  is  filled  with  sad- 
ness and  grief  as  he  reads  daily  about  the  war  and 
thinks  of  the  number  violently  killed  or  mutilated, 
the  shattered  homes,  the  broken-hearted  widows, 
the  mourning  mothers,  the  unprovided  for  child- 
ren, and  so  on  and  so  forth. 

No  more  shall  mangled  corpses 
Strew  the  cursed  battle  plain 

While  the  tears  of  stricken  women 
Fall  like  floods  of  scalding  rain, 

And  the  nation's  hands  are  branded 
With  the  bloody  mark  of  Cain, 

For  reason  at  last  shall  reign. 

— Virginia  Journal  of  Education. 

Oh  people  of  Europe !  We  opponents  of  war 
do  not  ask  very  much ;  we  do  not  ask  even  that  you 
follow  the  Golden  Rule ;  we  only  ask  that  you  fol- 
low the  ' ' brass  rule " :  "Do  not  do  anything  that 
will  bring  hardship  or  misery  into  the  life  of 
others ;  for  there  is  enough  misery  and  suffering 
in  life  without  making  things  more  miserable-" 
To  this  we  must  add  the  disgraceful  rule  for  sav- 
ages:   "Do  not  kill  others." 

The  continuation  of  the  war  means  the  con- 
tinuation and  aggravation  of  the  killing,  suffering 
and  destruction.  England,  France,  Germany  and 
Austria-Hungary  will  still  have  to  live  together  in 


14 


Europe  after  the  war,  as  stated  by  Bernard  Shaw, 
and  the  sooner  they  decide  to  live  on  peaceful  and 
friendly  terms  the  better. 

The  war  is  not  only  murderous  and  destruc- 
tive, but  also  very  stupid.    What  benefit  do  the 
people  get  from  the  war?    Hardly  had  the  war 
begun  when  the  lists  of  the  dead  and  wounded  ran 
into  the  hundred-thousands.     The  young  and 
strong  and  healthy  men  are  killed,  leaving  the 
least  fit  to  beget  posterity.    If  not  killed  outright 
they  are  crippled  for  life  or  the  hardships  of  the 
war  leave  them  diseased.     War  costs  enormous 
sums  of  money  and  leaves  heavy  debts ;  besides  an 
enormous  destruction  of  property  and  waste  of 
effort  accompanies  warfare.    If  this  effort  that  is 
wasted  in  war,  on  armies  and  in  the  production  of 
instruments  of  war,  were  directed  to  the  produc- 
tion of  articles  of  necessity  and  comfort,  all  peo- 
ple would  be  abundantly  supplied  with  the  things 
they  require  for  a  happy  life.    The  most  appal- 
ling disaster,  however,  is  the  destruction  of  valu- 
able lives,  and  the  suffering  of  the  men  who  have 
to  go  to  war  and  the  suffering  of  their  dependants 
These  things  are  apparent  to  everybody  and  it 
appears  useless  to  dwell  on  them,  since  the  people 
of  no  nation  are  willing  to  admit  that  they  are  re- 
sponsible, but  claim  and  believe  that  they  are 
fighting  in  self-defense. 


15 


5.    DO  THE  PEOPLE  WANT  WAR? 

THAT  the  people  want  war  is  a  misconception 
that  prevails  to  some  extent.  It  has  been 
stated  that  people  want  war  because  of  sav- 
age or  blood-thirsty  instincts,  and  that  wars  can 
only  be  abolished  by  overcoming  these  instincts  by 
educating  the  people  to  see  the  horrors  and  wick- 
edness of  war.  If  people  really  wanted  war  be- 
cause of  pugnacity  or  blood-thirst  I  would  say. 
"Let  them  go  to  war  and  satisfy  their  blood-thirst 
to  their  heart's  content."  But  as  things  are,  about 
ninety-five  per  cent  or  more  of  the  people  do  not 
want  war,  and  they  deserve  our  profound  sympa- 
thy. The  five  per  cent  (more  or  less)  that  really 
want  war  do  not  want  it  because  of  blood-thirst, 
but  because  they  expect  to  make  gains  thereby. 
What  pugnacity  there  is  in  people  could  be  easily 
satisfied  by  allowing  boxing  and  wrestling.  Most 
people  are  aware  of  the  dangers  and  horrors  of 
war ;  but  the  opinion  prevails  that  war  is  a  neces- 
sity to  protect  their  nation,  their  independence 
and  their  homes. 

A  potent  cause  which  induces  people  to  en- 
gage in  strikes,  revolutions  and  wars  is  a  hard 
economic  condition  in  which  it  is  hard  for  working 
people  to  earn  and  provide  themselves  with  the 
requisites  and  comforts  of  life- 

Between  people  of  marked  difference  of  race 
conflicts  often  arise  which  are  irreconcilable.  It 
is  true  that  race  wars  have  often  been  necessary 


16 


in  the  past.  Such  wars  were  those  with  the  Amer- 
ican Indians.  Eace  wars  have  the  justification 
that  they  are  sometimes  unavoidable  when  a  high- 
er type  of  people  and  a  higher  civilization  displace 
a  lower.  In  the  United  States  less  than  one  mil- 
lion savage  Indians  could  live,  while  probably 
about  300  million  white  people  can  live  here.  It 
is  seldom  that  wars  between  people  of  the  same 
race  are  justifiable. 

The  European  war  is  obviously  not  a  race 
war.  War  is  only  necessary  to  repel  the  invasion 
of  barbarous  hordes ;  the  European  war,  however 
is  only  necessary  as  long  as  the  people  on  both 
sides  entertain  the  illusive  opinion  that  it  is  nec- 
essary. The  opinion  should  prevail  that  it  is  nec- 
essary for  the  European  nations  to  co-operate. 

The  mass  of  the  people  have  no  hand  in  shap- 
ing foreign  policies  and  in  deciding  on  wars ;  but 
when  a  diplomatic  break  occurs  thev  are  called 
upon  to  fight  the  war.  They  are  told  by  agitators 
and  a  jingo  press  that  foreign  nations  are  plotting 
intrigues  and  that  it  is  necessarv  to  fight  for  home 
and  tor  national  independence.  If  this  is  true 
under  present  political  organizations,  then  these 
organizations  deserve  radical  improvement. 

In  times  of  war  independent  opinions  and 
opinions  contrary  to  the  prevailing  are  usually 

Z*1?T  '  ?d  T St  °f  the  men  are  fo™ed  under 
,  ty  t01flter  the  ^ ;  thus  it  appears  as  if  the 
people  really  wanted  to  slaughter  each  other.  The 
people  are  engaged  in  a  blind  work  of  butchery ; 


17 


they  really  do  not  want  to  kill  or  cripple  each 
other,  destroy  property,  leave  orphans  and  wid- 
ows and,  in  general,  make  life  miserable.  People, 
in  general,  no  more  desire  wars  than  shipwrecks, 
train  disasters  or  earthquakes. 

"In  every  nation,  men  believe  they  are  fight- 
ing for  the  defense  of  home  and  country  against 
wanton  aggression,  because  they  know  that  they 
themselves  have  not  desired  war,  and  they  know 
or  suspect  the  sins  of  foreign  governments  while 
they  are  ignorant  of  the  sins  of  their  own." — 
Quoted  from  "Justice  in  War  Time"  by  Bertrand 
Russell. 

The  people  will  begin  to  think  independently 
and  will  not  help  in  making  any  more  bloody  war 
history  in  the  future-  Public  officers  and  rulers 
will  have  to  cater  to  the  needs  of  the  people  and 
render  efficient  service  to  maintain  their  positions. 

The  European  war  was  probably  not  started 
because  anybody  wanted  war,  but  rather  because 
of  the  determination  of  each  nation  to  protect  its 
interests,  and  the  failure  of  diplomacy  to  reconcile 
these  conflicting  interests.  Diplomats  should  not 
be  blamed  entirely  for  the  war,  for  their  task  is 
often  like  that  of  trying  to  appease  two  dogs'hav- 
ing  hold  of  the  same  piece  of  meat.  To  prevent 
the  conflicting  interests  of  nations  from  ending  in 
war  an  effective  international  government  is  nec- 
esssary. 


18 


I 


6.    FACTS  AND  FIGURES  ABOUT 
WORLD-LIFE. 

N  order  that  people  may  not  engage  in  blind 
strife,  it  is  necessary  that  the  facts  and  figures 
about  world-life  be  known  so  that  people  may 
see  where  the  real  difficulties  lie.  People  and  na- 
tions too  often  blame  each  other  for  evil  conditions 
when  it  is  really  their  false  view  of  life  and  their 
false  social  philosophy  which  are  mostly  at  fault. 

I  shall  give  only  a  few  statements  on  this  sub- 
ject here,  as  I  have  in  preparation  a  larger  work 
with  the  title:  The  Race  Problems;  An  Essay 
Concerning  the  Destiny  of  Mankind.  In  that  work 
I  shall  discuss  the  race  problems  in  considerable 
detail,  and  also  outline  a  plan  for  an  international 
government.  In  the  following  I  shall  state  only 
a  few  of  the  salient  conclusions,  without  attempt- 
ing to  prove  them  in  detail. 

After  all  available  land  is  brought  under  in- 
tensive cultivation,  the  earth  can  probably  not 
support  to  advantage  more  than  twice  the  present 
population  on  an  American  or  European  standard 
of  living.  The  area  of  the  land  surface  of  the 
earth  is  about  52  million  square  miles,  of  which 
not  more  than  about  40  per  cent,  or  13,300  million 
acres,  will  ever  be  available  for  the  production  of 
food.  Of  these  13,300  million  acres,  it  will  take 
an  average  of  five  acres  (two  under  cultivation) 
to  supply   one  adult  with  adequate    food,  or  an 


19 

average  of  four  acres  per  inhabitant.  For  in- 
stance, for  bread  alone,  with  wheat  at  15  bushels 
per  acre  (and  the  average  yield  in  the  United 
States  fell  far  below  this  in  the  year  1916),  a  per- 
son requires  more  than  one-third  acre.  For  meat 
the  largest  area  is  required. 

We  may  also  look  at  the  problem  as  to  how 
many  people  the  earth  can  support  in  a  perspec- 
tive way.  Suppose  that  there  had  been  no  Ameri- 
can Continent,  but  that  the  land  area  of  the  world 
had  consisted  only  of  the  Old  World.  Could  all 
the  people  of  the  earth  live  on  the  Eastern  Hemi- 
sphere at  present?  Could  they  produce  enough 
food?  I  believe  they  could  if  all  available  land 
of  the  Eastern  Hemisphere  were  intensely  culti- 
vated ;  but  in  Asia  millions  have  died,  at  intervals 
in  the  past,  from  starvation  or  have  fallen  a  prey 
to  diseases  because  of  under-nutrition.  For  pur- 
poses of  discussion  in  social  and  political  subjects, 
it  is  not  prudent  to  assume  that  the  earth  can  sup- 
port to  advantage  more  than  twice  the  present 
population-  There  is  no  use  to  build  castles  in  the 
air  about  this  question  and  let  the  people  stagger 
blindly  into  disastrous  famines  and  wars. 

The  question  is  not  just  what  the  utmost  pos- 
sible limit  is  that  the  earth  can  support,  but  rather, 
how  many  people  can  live  to  advantage  or  how 
many  can  live  a  life  worth  the  living  on  the  earth? 
On  an  Asiatic  standard  of  living  considerably 
more  people  can  live  on  the  earth  than  on  the 
American  standard.   Every  person  ought  to  have 


20 


a  nice  home  and  be  abundantly  supplied  with  the 
necessities  and  comforts  of  life.  Probably  more 
than  one-half  of  the  people  can  be  considered  as 
not  living  to  advantage  at  the  present  time. 

The  United  States  can  probably  not  support 
to  advantage  over  300  million  people  on  its  soil 
products.  In  the  year  1915  the  population  of  the 
United  States  reached  100  million.  During  the 
decade  1900-1910  the  population  of  the  United 
States  increased  21  per  cent.  If  the  population  of 
the  United  States  continues  to  increase  at  the  rate 
of  21  per  cent,  per  decade,  the  population  of  the 
United  States  will  reach  300  million  in  58  years. 
(This  calculation  is  made  easiest  with  the  use  of 
logarithms:  viz.,  100  (J.21)1  =  300;  t  =  5.8  decades). 

The  natural  rate  of  increase — the  increase 
due  to  the  excess  of  births  over  deaths — of  the 
white  population  of  the  United  States  during  the 
decade  1900-1910  was  15  per  cent.  (See  13th  Cen- 
sus Report,  Vol.  I,  page  127.)  Population  increas- 
ing at  the  rate  of  15  per  cent,  per  decade  will 
double  in  number  every  50  years.  Observation 
and  statistics  show  that  some  classes  of  the  popu- 
lation increase  at  a  rate  at  which  population 
doubles  in  25  years.  How  is  this  increasing  popu- 
lation going  to  find  subsistence  on  the  earth? 

Consider  the  following  calculation.  At  pres- 
ent the  population  of  the  earth  is  estimated  to  be 
1,700  million;  the  area  of  the  earth's  land  surface 
is  about  52  million  square  miles;  consequently 
tfcere  are  an  average  of  33  persons  to  every  square 
nine,    it  the  present  population  would  double 


21 


every  fifty  years,  then  in  830  years  the  population 
of  the  earth  would  reach  the  stupendous  figure  of 
170,000,000,000,000,  which  equals  the  number  of 
square  yards  of  land  surface  on  the  earth- 

From  the  foregoing  figures  it  is  evident  that 
even  if  the  earth  could  support  four  or  five  times 
the  present  population,  the  ability  of  population 
to  increase  exceeds  all  possible  bounds  of  food 
supply  and,  in  fact,  exceeds  standing  room  on  the 
earth.  Such  calculations  give  us  the  proper  out- 
look on  such  subjects  as  overpopulation,  increas- 
ing cost  of  living,  poverty,  want  and  consequent 
disease,  crime  and  war.  It  is  evident  that  the  cost 
of  living  will  continue  to  increase  until  the  poorer 
classes  of  people  in  the  cities  will  be  subject  to 
starvation. 

It  is  shown  by  Darwin,  Haeckel  and  other 
biologists  that  the  rapid  increase  in  numbers  is 
an  important  factor  in  the  evolution  of  organ- 
isms, and  it  is  a  necessary  factor  in  the  displace- 
ment of  lower  grades  of  organisms  by  higher. 

All  people  are  not  equal  in  physical,  intellect- 
ual and  esthetic  qualities  nor  in  the  value  of  their 
lives.  Some  people  are  superior  than  others  in 
these  respects.  It  is  quite  evident  (unless  we  be- 
lieve in  the  pessimism  of  Schopenhauer)  that  the 
value  of  life  rises  with  the  advance  in  civilization 
and  that  the  value  of  the  life  of  a  civilized  and 
cultured  person  exceeds  greatly  the  value  of  the 
life  of  a  rude  and  savage  person. 

When  the  millennium  is  reached  a  stationary 


22 

population,  homogeneous  in  race,  will  be  the  nor- 
mal condition. 


7.    THE  NEW  WORLD-RELIGION. 

OF  paramount  importance  are  the  facts  about 
the  limits  of  the  food  supply  of  the  earth 
and  the  ability  of  population  to  increase. 
These  are  as  important  in  sociology  as  the  opera- 
tion of  addition  is  to  mathematics ;  yet  they  are  al- 
most entirely  neglected.  There  exists  a  ' '  Tower  of 
Babel"  of  literature  on  social  and  political  sub- 
jects, built  without  a  secure  foundation,  and  con- 
sequent confusion  prevails. 

In  the  face  of  the  facts  and  figures  of  world- 
life,  the  outlook  for  the  future  of  mankind  is  pes- 
simistic and  dismal  indeed  from  the  prevalent 
views  of  life ;  consequently,  strenuous  efforts  have 
been  made  to  deny  or  avoid  these  facts,  but  the 
will  is  powerless  to  change  facts,  and  the  denial 
of  facts  leads  only  to  disasters.  Optimism  has  been 
heralded  almost  as  a  virtue ;  but  for  a  person  who 
has  knowledge  of  facts  and  figures  optimism  is 
impossible.  It  lies  beyond  the  power  of  one's 
will  to  be  optimistic  when  one  foresees  (on  the 
basis  of  figures)  what  is  coming.  However,  what 
is  required  in  the  solution  of  the  world-problems 
and  the  avoidance  of  world-perils  is  neither  pes- 
simism nor  optimism  but  knowledge  and  fore- 
sight. To  prevaricate  or  ignore  facts  and  to  steer 


23 


blindly  into  the  future  is  just  as  deplorable  as  to 
steer  a  passenger  ship  through  arctic  regions  and 
deny  or  ignore  the  existence  of  icebergs.  It  has, 
indeed,  been  painful  for  me  to  behold  how  the  ship 
of  destiny  of  mankind  has  been  steered  recklessly 
and  blindly  into  the  unknown  sea  of  the  future. 

There  arises,  however,  the  scientific  or  Mon- 
istic view  of  life  and    the  new  World-Religion 
which  gives  us  the  solution  to  the  world-problems 
and  gives  us  hope  and  optimism.   The  name  of  the 
new  World-Religion  is  Monism,  meaning  oneness 
or  unity.   The  salient  features  of  Monism  are :  It 
is  based  on  scientific  facts;  it  is  consistent  with 
observation  and  experience  and  harmonizes  with 
science.    It  is  scientific  and  rejects  all  "historical 
authorities"  as  evidence  of   truth  or   as  proving 
anything.   In  place  of  dogmas  it  has  axioms.  It 
is  not  dogmatic  but  positive.    All  useful  know- 
ledge is  positive.    On  all  unsolved  problems  it  is 
agnostic;  when  solved,  however,  the  answer  is 
positive.    Monistic  Philosophy  has  not  yet  solved 
all  problems,  but  I  am  happy  to  announce  that  the 
method  by  which  the  solution  of  all  problems  may 
be  attained  is  now  completely  and  definitely  un- 
derstood.   There  only  remains  the  task  of  doing 
the  necessary  mental  and  physical  work.  There  is 
nothing  new  about  this  method;  it  is  the  method 
by  which  all  useful  and  scientific  knowledge  has 
been  obtained.     This  method  is  effort;  namely, 
mental  and  physical  work  in  agreement  with  the 
laws  of  nature.    If  work  is  done  contrary  to  the 


24 


laws  of  nature  it  will  be  fruitless  or  disastrous. 
In  agriculture,  in  mechanical  arts,  in  science,  in 
medicine,  and  in  all  the  ordinary  pursuits  of  life 
this  method  is  applied  with  considerable  correct- 
ness by  most  people ;  but  when  it  comes  to  sociol- 
ogy, ethics  and  religion,  the  will  interferes  with 
most  people 's  thinking  and  hinders  them  from  do- 
ing correct  mental  work.  People  wish  to  over- 
come obstacles  and  evils  they  do  not  like  to  face  by 
the  will  or  by  denying  their  existence  or  they  wish 
to  avoid  the  effort  of  overcoming  them.  The  evils 
are  in  the  world  as  spurs  to  cause  us  to  make  ef- 
fort, and  effort  causes  the  physiological  develop- 
ment of  the  brain  and  body. 

Evolution  is  a  fact  of  observation;  all  reput- 
able biologists  are  agreed  on  this;  and  Lamarck 
and  Darwin  explained  the  factors  causing  evolu- 
tion. According  to  Monistic  Philosophy,  the  laws 
of  nature  are  the  laws  of  God,  and  evolution  is 
the  creative  plan  of  God.  To  state  that  evolution 
is  God's  creative  plan  is  the  same  thing  as  stating, 
the  world  is  as  we  observe  it  to  be,  which  is  axio- 
matic. The  divine  plan  of  God  is  to  perfect  organ- 
ic life  on  this  earth  by  evolution.  For  this  pur- 
pose organisms  are  endowed  with  the  ability  to 
multiply  rapidly.  The  struggle  for  existence  and 
the  evils  encountered  are  the  incitement  and  spurs 
for  causing  organisms  to  act  and  make  effort,  and 
effort  causes  their  physiological  development  and 
perfection.    In  this  struggle  for  existence  it  lies 


25 


in  the  plan  that    the  fittest  should    displace  the 
others. 

To  attempt  to  overcome  evils  by  prevaricat- 
ing facts  is  to  attempt  to  frustrate  the  plans  of 
God  and  will  be  of  disastrous  consequences  to  the 
race.  The  Great  War  could  probably  have  been 
avoided  by  facing  the  facts  and  figures  about 
world-life  bravely.  At  least,  the  war  appears  very 
stupid  in  the  face  of  these  facts. 

Monism  furnishes  the  method  for  bringing 
all  people  to  the  same  view  of  life  and  for  uniting 
all  religions  into  one.  In  truth  there  is  oneness; 
the  truth  and  the  laws  of  God  are  unalterable  and 
eternal.  These  conclusions  are  of  the  nature  of 
axioms  derived  from  everyday  experience.  If  we 
have  the  method  of  attaining  the  truth,  we  must 
all  come  to  the  same  views  by  attaining  the  truth. 
This  method  of  attaining  the  truth  is  most  clearly 
applied  in  mathematics.  We  begin,  therefore,  with 
mathematics  and  the  facts  of  everyday  experience. 
I  must,  however,  desist  here  from  developing  this 
theme  any  further  as  the  aim  is  to  have  this  pam- 
phlet very  brief. 

There  are  people  of  dogmatic  religion  who  in- 
sist that  they  have  the  true  view  of  life,  and  that 
if  all  people  are  to  be  united  in  truth  all  people 
must  adopt  their  belief;  but  if  these  people  will 
compare  their  religion  with  other  dogmatic  re- 
ligions, they  will  see  that  they  are  in  a  different 
ship,  but  sailing  on  the  same  stream  as  the  other 
religions. 


26 


On  matters  of  history  agreements  can  never 
be  reached,  as  it  is  impossible  to  prove  or  dis- 
prove the  truth  of  historical  statements  in  a  direct 
way.  The  usual  way  to  prove  historical  state- 
ments is  to  quote  more  history  and  this  is  as  un- 
satisfactory as  attempting  to  prove  an  assertion 
by  another  assertion. 

As  stated  before,  Monism  rejects  all  so-called 
"historical  authorities"  and  the  Bible  as  evidence 
of  truth.  We  have  greater  prophets  among  us 
today  than  in  biblical  times-  Ministers  need  not 
fear  at  all  that  the  new  religion  will  upset  the 
truth ;  for  it  lies  beyond  the  power  of  mankind  to 
create  truth;  our  power  lies  in  discovering  the 
truth.  The  ideals  of  Monism  are  truth,  goodness 
and  beauty,  and  we  take  over  into  our  new  relig- 
ion all  the  truthful  and  good  things,  wherever  we 
find  them,  whether  in  the  Bible,  the  Koran,  in 
science  or  in  the  lectures  of  Ingersoll.  Thus  only 
can  all  mankind  be  united  in  truth. 

Ministers  need  not  fear  that  they  will  lose 
their  means  of  livelihood  through  the  new  re- 
ligion. There  will  be  need  of  all  the  ministers  to 
preach  the  new  religion  and  the  correct  views  of 
life. 

The  Unitarian  and  Universalist  churches  are 
already  in  close  agreement  with  Monism.  The 
membership  of  these  churches  consists  of  educated 
and  liberal  minded  people.  These  churches  lay 
more  importance  than  Monism  on  the  study  of  the 
Bible.  Monism  lays  more  importance  on  the  study 


27 


of  natural  science  and  useful  knowledge.  It  lays 
particular  stress  on  hygiene  and  on  a  rational 
healthy  mode  of  living-  that  will  insure  a  happy 
life. 

Works  that  are  prophetic  and  point  out  the 
direction  for  Christianity  to  take  are  the  follow- 
ing :— 

The  New  World-Life  and  The  New  World- 
Religion,  by  Rev.  Josiah  Strong. 

The  Religion  of  the  Future,  by  Charles  W. 
Eliot. 

Monism  as  a  Connecting  Link  Between  Re- 
ligion and  Science,  by  Ernst  Haeckel. 

#       *  # 

In  view  of  the  facts  and  figures  of  world-life, 
the  only  plan  for  attaining  permanent  peace  that 
appears  promising  is  the  plan  for  the  establish- 
ment of  an  international  government,  and  even 
this  will  not  assure  permanent  peace  unless  the 
Monistic  Philosophy  of  life  is  adopted  and  brought 
into  operation. 

8.    THE  IDEALS  OF  MONISM. 

MONISM  furnishes  us  ideals  and  optimism 
that  should  satisfy  the  most  idealistic  and 
optimistic.  The  optimism  of  Monism  is  that 
we  can  overcome  most  of  the  evils  of  life,  and  that 
if  we  make  the  proper  effort,  according  to  God's 
will,  to  overcome  the  evils,  it  will  cause  the  com- 
plete mental   and  physical   development  of  man- 


28 


kind:  this  being  attained,  evil  will  no  longer  be 
necessary  in  the  world  and  man  will  guide  his 
development  and  maintain  perfection  by  the  intel- 
lect. To  attain  this  most  rapidly,  we  must  bring 
our  will  in  accord  with  the  will  of  God  and  work 
in  accordance  with  God's  creative  plan. 

Much  has  already  been  accomplished  in  re- 
moving the  evils  from  life  and  in  making  life  bet- 
ter. Indeed,  the  only  object  of  science  can  be  to 
make  life  better  and  happier.  Wars  are  mostly 
due  to  the  volition  of  man  and  can  be  avoided. 
While  it  will  probably  be  impossible  to  overcome 
all  evils  entirely  on  this  shabby,  hilly  earth,  yet 
we  can  reduce  the  evils  to  such  an  extent  that  life 
will  be  worth  while  to  live. 

The  belief  that  the  evils  and  miseries  of  life 
can  never  be  overcome ;  that  wars,  diseases,  crime, 
poverty  and  want  will  continue  in  the  future  as 
in  the  past  is  fatalism.  Many  persons  who  claim 
to  be  idealists  and  who  set  their  faith  on  a  blessed 
place  of  peace  after  death  are  fatalists  in  regard 
to  earthly  life.  The  belief  in  fatalism  is  detrimen- 
tal toward  progress  in  overcoming  the  evils  of  life. 

The  ideals  of  Monism  are,  to  eliminate  the 
evils  from  life,  and  to  bring  about  a  state  of  so- 
ciety in  which  all  people  will  be  tolerably,  equally 
well  supplied  with  material  goods.  Another  ideal 
is  to  work  in  agreement  with  the  evolutionary 
creative  plan  of  God  and  favor  and  foster  the  im- 
provement and  increase  of  the  higher  grades  of 
people ;  to  favor  the  development  of  a  race  of  peo- 


29 


pic  of  high-grade  intellectual,  physical,  esthetic 
and  moral  qualities.  It  must,  however,  be  stated 
positively  here  that  this  ideal  does  not  mean  or 
require  that  we  trample  on  lower  or  inferior 
grades  of  people. 

The  present  war  is  a  crushing  blow  to  the 
fondest  ideals  of  Monism,  for  in  it  some  of  our 
highest  and  best  types  of  people  are  cruelly  ex- 
terminated. The  war  does  not  lead  to  the  surviv- 
al of  the  higher  grades,  and  even  if  it  did  it  would 
not  be  justified.  People  equally  advanced  in  civil- 
ization and  in  intellectual  and  physical  develop- 
ment fight  each  other,  and  just  because  of  this 
fact  the  war  is  so  severe  and  destructive. 

9.    A  FEW  WORDS  TO  PEACE 
ADVOCATES. 

IN  criticising  peace  advocates  in  the  following  I 
do  it  as  an  ardent  friend  to  the  cause  of  peace. 
The  peace  propaganda  has  doubtless  done 
much  good  toward  creating  favorable  public  opin- 
ions; but  greater  good  could  have  been  done  by 
stating  the  facts  and  figures  of  world-life  clearly. 
Indeed,  much  harm  has  been  done  to  the  cause  of 
peace  and  to  the  cause  of  general  welfare  by  at- 
tempting to  prevaricate  facts.  When  we  get  over 
the  bad  habit  of  attempting  to  deny  callous  facts 
Ave  don't  like  to  face;  and  when  we  discard  that 
preposterous    opinion  that  a  good   cause  can  be 


30 


helped  by  evading  or  denying  unpleasant  facts, 
we  will  have  made  a  great  gain  toward  bringing 
our  will  in  accord  with  the  will  of  God  and  will 
make  rapid  progress  toward  eliminating  the  evils 
from  life.  We  Monists  have  drawn  the  conclusion 
that  it  is  better  to  know  the  most  unpleasant 
truths  than  to  believe  the  most  pleasant  falsities, 
for  falsities  lead  to  pitfalls  and  misery.  Without 
accurate  knowledge  it  is  not  possible  to  overcome 
the  evils  of  life.  Sentiments  not  under  the  con- 
trol of  reason  will  accomplish  evil. 

In  A  Primer  of  the  Peace  Movement  by  Lucia 
Ames  Mead,  a  work  which  is  supposed  to  give  us 
a  sort  of  review  of  the  peace  movement,  we  find 
this  statement: — 

' 1  The  earth  is  very  sparely  settled,  and  is  in- 
calculably rich  in  resources.  We  have  only  begun 
to  see  the  possibilities  of  scientific  farming.  All 
the  population  of  the  globe  could  be  put  into  Texas 
and  allow  a  half  acre  to  each  family." 

To  put  the  entire  population  of  the  earth  into 
the  state  of  Texas  would  make  10  inhabitants  to 
the  acre.  From  the  census  of  1910,  the  number  of 
inhabitants  in  the  metropolitan  district  of  New 
York  City  was  10.5  to  the  acre.  By  a  little  figuring 
it  is  evident  that  the  state  of  Texas  might  be  suf- 
ficiently large  to  afford  dwelling  room  for  the  en- 
tire population  of  the  earth ;  at  any  rate,  it  would 
make  a  gigantic  city,  and  there  would  be  no  room 
left  to  cultivate  any  crops. 

Peace  advocates  seem  to  fear  that  by  stating 


31 


the  limit  of  the  number  of  people  the  earth  can 
support,  the  nations  would  go  to  war  to  kill  off  the 
surplus  population.  This,  however,  is  not  a  mo- 
tive for  the  present  war  even  in  a  remote  way. 
Wars  are  due  to  nationalism  and  commercialism. 
Nationalism  looks  upon  a  rapid  increase  of  popu- 
lation as  something  very  desirable  and  on  a  de- 
crease in  the  birth-rate  as  a  national  calamity. 

Another  fact  which  peace  advocates  make 
strenuous  efforts  to  deny  absolutely  is  that  there 
are  differences  in  the  races  of  mankind,  and  all 
arguments  that  there  are  vital  differences  are  sup- 
posed to  be  invalidated  by  the  term  "race  preju- 
dice." The  fact,  however,  that  there  are  differ- 
ences presents  the  ugliest  and  most  difficult  social 
problems,  and  the  situation  is  only  aggravated  by 
denying  facts.  It  lies  beyond  the  scope  of  this 
pamphlet  to  develop  this  theme  further  and  a  few 
more  remarks  must  suffice.  In  recognizing  race 
differences  it  is  not  desirable  to  class  mankind  in- 
to more  than  about  five  races.  Race  classifications 
should  be  made  on  the  basis  of  biological  differ- 
ences. "Nationality"  and  "race"  should  not  be 
confounded.  In  recognizing  that  some  people 
and  races  are  superior  to  others  in  intelligence, 
in  physique,  and  in  beauty,  and  that  the  life  of  the 
higher  grades  of  people  is  worth  more  than  that 
of  the  lower  grades,  it  does  not  follow  that  the  life 
of  the  inferior  people  is  valueless  or  that  thtv 
should  be  killed  with  the  sword.  Although  it 
would  be  considerably  better  to  see  the  inferior 


32 


types  of  people  killed,  than  to  see  the  superior 
types  of  people  killed,  as  is  taking  place  in  the 
present  war,  the  new  religion  with  its  sympathy, 
like  Christianity,  requires  us  to  be  kind  to  infer- 
ior races  of  people  and  also  to  lower  animals. 
Any  race  or  nationality  attempting  to  kill  another 
race  or  nationality  would  be  showing  moral  and 
intellectual  inferiority. 

Suppose  there  are  differences  in  race;  why 
harp  on  this  theme,  may  be  asked.  It  is  necessary 
to  recognize  the  race  facts  in  order  not  to  impose 
hardships  upon  the  higher  types  of  people  by  at- 
tempting to  uplift  the  lower.  The  higher  types 
are  more  sensitive  to  suffering  than  the  lower.  We 
have  sometimes  a  choice  only  between  two  evils 
and  in  such  cases  we  should  choose  the  lesser  evil. 
It  is  not  such  a  great  duty  to  do  good  as  to  avoid 
doing  evil. 

For  the  sake  of  brevity  much  must  be  left  un- 
explained in  this  pamphlet.  A  larger  work  is  in 
preparation  in  which  the  race  problems  will  be 
discussed  in  considerable  detail. 

10.    THE  OUTCOME  OF  THE  WAR.  TWEN- 
TY YEARS  HENCE. 

IN  twenty  years  the    population  of  the  United 
States  will  probably  have  reached  140  million. 
There  will  continue  to  be  a  rapid  increase  in 
population  in  South  America,  Canada,  and  Aus- 


33 


tralia.  The  population  of  England  and  of  Europe 
in  general  will  not  have  a  corresponding  rate  of 
increase,  especially  not  if   this  slaughtering  war 
continues.  Manufacturing  will  become  more  abun- 
dant in  North  and  South  America  in  the  future. 
The  significance  of  these  facts  is  that  the  economic 
outlook,  in  the  future,  for   England  is  not  very- 
good.    The  United  Kingdom  supports  at  present 
a  much   larger  population  than   for  which  ever 
enough  food  can  be  produced  in  the  British  Isles. 
England  at  present  has  large  factories,  the  pro- 
ducts of  which  are  shipped  all  over  the  earth.  As 
manufacturing  becomes  more  abundant  in  other 
countries,  she  will  have  the  disadvantage  of  having 
to  add  shipping  expenses  to  imports  and  exports. 
She  will  be  able  to  maintain  her  trade  effectively 
only  in  articles  for  which  she  has  special  natural 
resources  or  technical  ability.    Besides,  it  will  be 
expensive  to  maintain    the  largest    navy  in  the 
world.    When  the  manufacturing    industries  of 
other  countries  are  fully  devolped  the  trade  and 
wealth  of  England  will  fall.    It  is  better  if  this 
overcrowding  of  England  with  factories  and  peo- 
ple is  foreseen  and  that  a  proper  distribution  of 
the  population  over  the  earth  take  place. 

England  has  extensive  colonies,  but  she  can- 
not go  very  far  in  appropriating  the  wealth  of 
these  colonies  by  taxation  without  opposition  aris- 
ing which  would  cause  the  division  of  the  British 
Empire. 

The  significance  of  the  foregoing  is:   1.  That 


34 


it  is  useless  for  England  and  Germany  to  continue 
the  war;  two  or  three  decades  will  efface  any  ad- 
vantages gained  by  a  victory  of  either  side.  2.  It 
is  unnecessary  for  Germany  to  attempt  to  conquer 
England ;  time  will  accomplish  that.  3.  It  is  un- 
necessary for  England  to  attempt  to  conquer  Ger- 
many; England  will  not  be  able  to  maintain  her 
power  even  if  she  does  defeat  Germany-  The  deep- 
er England  goes  in  debt,  in  the  present  war,  the 
sooner  will  her  downfall  come. 

England  can  best  preserve  her  power  by 
joining  an  International  Government  as  outlined 
in  the  following  article.  If  German  militarism  is 
a  danger,  its  power  must  be  destroyed  by  the  Ger- 
man people  themselves,  by  the  progress  of  educa- 
tion and  democracy  and  not  by  pitting  the  Ger- 
man, English  and  French  people  against  each 
other. 

In  England  there  has  been  talk  even  of  con- 
tinuing the  war  for  twenty  years.  Could  anything 
more  sad  be  imagined?  In  twenty  years  from 
now  the  largest  part  of  the  men  in  Europe  past 
middle  age  will  have  died  a  natural  death  without 
being  shot  in  war.  In  twenty  years  very  few 
that  handled  the  misshaped  affairs  that  caused  the 
war  will  still  be  living. 

If  some  of  my  remarks  appear  partisan  for 
one  side,  it  should  be  remembered  that  other  re- 
marks seem  partisan  to  the  other  side.  I  have 
nothing  but  pity  for  the  people  of  Europe,  and  am 


35 


not  interested  in  a  victory  of  either  side.  I  am 
only  interested  in  a  victory  of  humanity. 

11.    HOW  PERMANENT  PEACE  MAY 
BE  ATTAINED.* 

Introductory  Note. — The  nations  of  Europe  claim  that  it 
is  necessary  to  continue  the  war  until  their  enemies  are  de- 
feated to  assure  permanent  peace  in  the  future.  Permanent 
peace  does  not  seem  certain  at  all  by  the  defeat  of  either 
side,  nor  does  the  defeat  of  either  side  seem  possible,  except 
at  an  indefensible  sacrifice  of  life.  Permanent  peace  seems 
possible  only  by  the  establishment  of  a  World  Court  and  a 
world  executive  power.  To  induce  the  nations  of  Europe  to 
stop  the  war,  I  propose  that  plans  for  the  establishment  of  a 
World  Court  be  submitted  to  them.  This  article  contains 
arguments  for  that  purpose. 

PEACE  treaties  and  optional  arbitration  give 
no  sure  promise  that  wars  will  not  occur  in 
the  future  when  serious  disputes  arise  be- 
tween nations.  Preparation  for  war  and  a  bal- 
ance of  power  have  not  proved  effective  in  keep- 
ing peace.  On  the  other  hand,  to  persuade  the  na- 
tions to  disarm  is  impossible.  Peace  between  in- 
dividuals can  be  kept  only  by  some  form  of  gov- 
ernment.  Peace  between  nations,  likewise,  seems 

*This  article  was  published  in  The  World  Court,  Octo- 
ber, 1916.  Published  by  the  World's  Court  League,  120 
Broadway,  New  York.  The  World  Court  is  a  magazine  de- 
voted to  creating  public  opinion  in  favor  of  a  World  Court 
to  settle  disputes  between  nations.  From  the  outlook  fur- 
nished by  the  facts  and  figures  of  world-life  The  World's 
Court  League  and  The  League  to  Enforce  Peace  are  advocat- 
ing plans  for  attaining  peace  and  world  order  that  are  more 
feasible  than  those  of  any  other  peace  society. 


36 


only  attainable  by  some  form  of  international 
government. 

Many  people  regard  the  preservation  of  the 
union  of  the  United  States  worth  the  sacrifice  of 
the  tremendous  number  of  lives  that  occurred  dur- 
ing the  Civil  War.  Many  people  regard  the  con- 
solidation of  the  German  provinces  to  a  united 
Germany,  which  was  effected  by* 'blood  and  iron," 
as  something  very  desirable.  Yet,  these  same  peo- 
ple seem  to  regard  with  disfavor  the  consolida- 
tion of  the  nations  of  the  world.  Many  people  re- 
gard with  aversion  that  their  nation  should  join 
an  international  government.  They  think  of  that 
as  something  which  would  require  their  nation  to 
relinquish  its  independence  and  sovereignty. 
World  Court  advocates  think  of  an  international 
government  as  a  combination  of  the  nations  to 
co-operate  to  make  earthly  life  better,  to  co-ope- 
rate to  abolish  wars  and  settle  disputes  peaceably. 
The  nations  joining  to  establish  a  World  Court 
shall,  of  course,  keep  their  own  form  of  govern- 
ment and  regulate  their  internal  affairs  according 
to  their  own  methods.  The  international  authori- 
ties should,  however,  control  the  seas  and  the  in- 
ternational trade  routes  like  the  Suez  and  Pana- 
ma canals.  The  power  of  an  international  gov- 
ernment should  be  restricted  to  regulating  trade 
and  settling  disputes  between  nations.  The  na- 
tions of  the  world  cannot  be  induced  to  enter  into 
such  a  close  combination  as  the  states  of  the  Un- 
ion or  the  provinces  of  Germany;  and  such  a  close 


37 

union  would  not  be  desirable  because  of  the  great 
differences  in  the  governments  of  the  various  na- 
tions (which  it  would  not  be  the  purpose  of  the  in- 
ternational government  to  alter)  and  the  nation- 
ality and  race  differences.  To  bind  the  nations  to 
such  limited  independence  as  the  states  of  the 
Union  are  bound  together  by  the  Constitution  is 
neither  possible  nor  desirable. 

A  few  students  of  world-problems,  who  re- 
gard an  international  government  as  a  desirable 
and  effective  means  of  securing  peace,  believe  that 
a  combination  of  the  nations  can  only  be  brought 
about  after  several  terrible  world  wars  after 
which  the  different  nations  will  establish  their 
rights  in  such  a  combination.  We  World  Court  ad- 
vocates believe  in  a  sane  and  humane  way  of  doing 
things;  we  believe  that  a  combination  of  nations 
(limited,  at  first,  to  the  nations  most  advanced  in 
civilization)  and  the  establishment  of  a  World 
Court  could  be  effected  in  a  civilized  way  by  the 
nations  sending  delegates  to  a  conference  to  make 
agreements.  It  is  safe  to  assume  that  the  re- 
quirements of  the  nations  in  regard  to  trade,  im- 
migration and  extension  of  territory  cannot  differ 
very  much;  and  if  the  nations  are  willing  to  put 
the  same  restrictions  on  themselves  that  they  de- 
mand of  other  nations  and  to  give  the  same  liber- 
ties to  other  nations  that  they  demand  for  them- 
selves, then  the  nations  can  surely  find  a  basis  of 
agreement,    Agreements  can,  of  course,  only  be 


38 


arrived  at  on  the  basis  of  the  Golden  Rule,  and  a 
certain  amount  of  good-will. 

In  the  past,  nations  have  grown  in  size  largely 
through  conquest  and  annexation  of  territory. 
Consolidation  has  been  effected  largely  by  "blood 
and  iron."  The  Triple  Alliance  and  the  Triple 
Entente  were  effected  by  peaceful  agreements  to 
secure  protection  against  an  opponent  or  to  se- 
cure a  balance  of  power.  Such  alliances  are  stable 
only  as  long  as  the  interests  of  the  nations  con- 
cerned run  together.  To  make  a  combination  of 
nations  binding  they  should  own  property,  terri- 
tory and  armaments  of  war  in  common. 

To  form  a  world  combination  by  peaceful 
agreements  and  thus  end  war  is  the  only  way 
worthy  of  nations  composed  of  human  beings  that 
consider  themselves  civilized.  A  precedent  is 
found  in  the  combination  of  the  thirteen  American 
Colonies  to  form  the  United  States.  The  strong- 
est incentive  for  the  American  Colonies  to  com- 
bine was  to  secure  peace  among  themselves  and  to 
secure  protection  against  the  aggression  of  Euro- 
pean powers.  The  main  inducement  to  cause  the 
nations  to  combine  is  to  secure  protection  against 
the  common  enemy  of  the  life  and  happiness  of 
mankind,  the  enemy  which  leads  the  people  into  a 
whirlpool  of  destruction  and  death — Mars.  Other 
inducements  and  advantages  are,  the  limitation  of 
armaments ;  the  control  of  the  seas  and  the  trade 
routes  by  the  nations  jointly;  the  securing  of  jus- 
tice to  the  people  of  all  nations,  etc. 


39 

To  induce  the  people  to  form  an  international 
government  and  a  World  Court  is  a  large  and  dif- 
ficult task — a  task  like  building  a  Panama  Canal, 
and  the  procedure  must  be  analogical.  First, 
careful  plans  must  be  drawn;  then  the  plans 
should  be  supported  and  advocated  by  public  men 
whose  opinions  and  views  are  looked  upon  as 
authoritative.  The  press,  of  course,  is  a  main  fac- 
tor in  helping  the  movement.  In  the  United  States 
the  plan  for  a  world  organization  should  finally 
receive  the  support  of  the  President  and  of  Con- 
gress. The  United  States  could  most  effectively 
take  precedence  in  this  movement. 

In  attempting  to  establish  an  international 
government  the  following  reasoning  deserves  con- 
sideration. The  combination  should,  at  first,  be 
limited  to  the  United  States  and  the  chief  civilized 
nations  of  Europe  to  secure  good  and  able  men  as 
leaders  to  formulate  the  international  laws.  Also 
if  all  the  nations  of  the  world  would  be  invited,  it 
would  be  very  difficult  or  probably  impossible  to 
come  to  agreements.  The  United  States,  England 
and  Germany  should  first  come  to  agreements  on 
preliminary  points  as  to  the  plan  of  organization, 
and  should'  then  invite  France,  Austria-Hungary, 
Italy,  Netherlands,  Sweden  and  Belgium  to  join. 
These  nations  (excepting  the  three  smallest  ones) 
are  powerful  military  nations.  Peace  can  be  at- 
tained and  kept  only  when  the  nations  and  the  men 
of  good-will  hold  the  balance  of  power.  If  the 
civilized  nations  named  ruled  the  earth  according 


40 


to  just  principles,  the  International  Government 
will  be  stable ;  if  injustice  prevails  we  may  expect 
revolts.  After  the  International  Government  is 
established  all  the  nations  of  the  world  may  be 
invited  to  join. 

Representation  in  the  International  Govern- 
ment should  be  proportional  to  the  literate  males 
of  voting  age,  as  suggested  by  Roger  W.  Babson 
in  his  book,  "The  Future  of  World  Peace."  This 
would  make  representation  roughly  in  proportion 
to  the  military  strength  of  each  nation.  If  a  na- 
tion can  secure  as  much  by  representation  as  by 
military  force,  it  will  not  be  inclined  to  resort  to 
such  force.  The  United  States,  England  and  Ger- 
many should  have  an  equal  number  of  representa- 
tives to  make  the  plan  acceptable  to  these  three 
nations. 

The  combination  of  nations  can  be  made  bind- 
ing and  mutual  confidence  can  be  established  by 
the  nations  owning  property,  territory  and  arma- 
ments in  common.  This  common  possession  should 
be  entirely  under  the  control  of  the  International 
Government.  To  this  common  possession  should 
belong  the  international  trade  routes  like  the  Suez 
and  Panama  canals.  The  United  States,  England 
and  Germany  should  consign  to  the  International 
Government  possessions  of  equal  value  and  the 
smaller  nations,  in  proportion  to  representation. 

There  are  two  chief  objections  made  by 
Americans  against  the  plan  of  the  United  States 
joining  with  the  European  powers  in  a  world  or- 


41 


ganization;  first,  that  it  is  against  our  Monroe 
Doctrine;  second,  that  it  is  against  the  good  ad^ 
vice  of  George  Washington.  Since  it  is  desirable 
to  have  all  peace  advocates  join  forces  to  work  for 
a  practical  plan  of  bringing  about  peace,  an  expla- 
nation is  in  order  here. 

The  nations  of  the  world  will  doubtless  de- 
sire to  keep  their  colonial  possessions,  and  would 
not  be  required  to  relinquish  their  control  over 
their  colonies  in  joining  an  International  Govern- 
ment ;  but  the  International  Government  would 
proclaim  as  a  doctrine  that  no  nation  shall  in  fu- 
ture subjugate  or  take  control  of  any  independent 
nation.  The  International  Government  would, 
then,  proclaim  a  sort  of  Monroe  Doctrine  over  the 
entire  earth  and  our  Monroe  Doctrine  would  be 
no  longer  necessary. 

Every  American  appreciates  the  good  advice 
of  George  Washington  to  keep  free  from  entang- 
ling European  alliances.  We  World  Court  advo- 
cates interpret  the  advice  of  George  AVashington 
to  apply  to  such  alliances  as  the  Triple  Alliance 
and  the' Triple  Entente  and  even  to  a  badly  organ- 
ized combination  of  the  nations ;  we  do  not  inter- 
pret the  advice  to  apply    to  the  formation  of  a 
world  organization,  planned  with  knowledge  and 
foresight,  to  secure  permanent  peace.    It  is  not 
probable  that  Washington  had  meant  his  Farewell 
Address  (given  120  years  ago)  to  refer  to  a  world 
organization  at  a  time  when  there  was  no  prospect 
of  such  a  thing. 

*       *  * 


42 


The  task  of  peace  advocates  is  to  plan  and 
propose  a  system  of  international  government  ac- 
ceptable to  the  people  and  governing  classes  of  the 
various  nations,  but  which  will  be,  at  the  same 
time,  based  on  just  and  equitable  principles. 

World  organization  must  surely  come  in  the 
future,  and  we  pray  and  hope  that  the  time  will 
come  soon  when  we  will  have  an  equitable  inter- 
national government  which  will  enhance  the  pro- 
gress and  well-being  of  mankind. 

12.    A  PRAYER  FOR  ENLIGHTENMENT 
AND  PEACE 

This  is  a  Monistic  prayer.  It  cannot  fail  to  have  a  valuable 
effect  upon  any  person  reciting  it.  According  to  Monism  it  is 
God's  will  that  we  make  effort  to  acquire  intelligence,  and  God 
will  bestow  intelligence  upon  us  if  we  pray  for  and  make  effort 
to  acguire  intelligence. 

O Creator  of  the  world  and  of  life ;  thou  who 
hast  endowed  us  with  intelligence ;  we  pray 
thee,  give  us  more  intelligence  and  enlight- 
enment. We  pray  thee  especially  to  give  us  the 
intelligence  to  see  the  folly  and  illusion  of  engage- 
ing  in  disastrous  conflicts.  Remove  from  us  the 
delusion  of  hate.  Remove  from  us  the  delusion 
that  anything  good  can  come  out  of  the  war  or 
that  it  is  necessary  or  unavoidable.  Make  us 
realize  that  we  are  engaged  in  a  blind  work  of 
butchery.  Forgive  us  our  sins  for  the  lack  of  ef- 
fort—as thy  will  requires  it— to  have  acquired  the 


43 


intelligence  to  see  that  it  is  to  our  own  benefit  to- 
live  in  peace  with  our  neighbor  and  our  neighbor- 
ing nations.  Make  us  realize  that  the  war  is  a 
punishment  for  the  lack  of  effort  to  have  acquired 
the  necessary  intelligence.  Merciful  God !  Give  us 
in  the  future  as  incentives  rather  ideals  and  objects 
to  be  attained  than  evils  as  spurs  to  cause  us  to 
make  effort.  We  pray  thee,  give  us  the  intelli- 
gence to  bring  the  cruel  war  to  a  speedy  close  and 
to  unite  the  nations  to  co-operate  and  help  each 
other  make  earthly  life  better  and  happier. 

13.    MONISTIC  IDEALS. 
A  Loftier  Race 

These  things  shall  be !    A  loftier  race 

Than  e'er  the  world  hath  known  shall  rise,. 

With  flame  of  freedom  in  their  souls 

And  light  of  knowledge  in  their  eyes. 

They  shall  be  gentle,  brave  and  strong, 
Not  to  spill  human  blood,  but  dare 

All  that  may  plant  man's  lordship  firm 
On  earth  and  fire  and  sea  and  air. 

New  arts  shall  bloom,  of  loftier  mold, 
And  mightier  music  thrill  the  skies ; 

And  every  life  shall  be  a  song, 

When  all  the  earth  is  paradise. 

— John  Add  hi  gton  Symonds. 


44 


The  following  verses  from  In  Memoriam,  by 
Alfred  Tennyson,  express  the  ideals  of  the  new 
World-Religion  beautifully  and  magnificently. 
Every  man,  woman  and  child  should  learn  these 
verses  by  heart  and  sing  or  recite  them  occasional- 
ly as  an  expression  of  his  or  her  ideals. 

Ring  in  the  Millennium. 

Ring  out  the  old,  ring  in  the  new; 

Ring,  happy  bells,  with  mellow  tone ; 

The  lofty  new  ideals  make  known; 
Ring  out  the  false,  ring  in  the  true. 

Ring  out  the  grief  that  saps  the  mind, 
For  those  that  here  we  see  no  more ; 
Ring  out  the  feud  of  rich  and  poor, 

Ring  in  redress  to  all  mankind. 

Ring  out  a  slowly  dying  cause 

And  ancient  forms  of  party  strife; 
Ring  in  the  nobler  modes  of  life, 

With  sweeter  manners,  purer  laws. 

Ring  out  false  pride  in  place  and  blood 
The  civic  slander  and  the  spite ; 
Ring  in  the  love  of  truth  and  right, 

Ring  in  the  common  love  of  good. 


45 


Ring  out  old  shapes  of  foul  disease, 

Ring  out  the  narrowing  Inst  of  gold; 
Ring  out  the  thousand  wars  of  old, 

Ring  in  the  thousand  years  of  peace. 

Ring  in  the  valient  man  and  free, 

The  larger  heart,  the  kindlier  hand; 
Ring  out  the  darkness  of  the  land, 

Ring  in  the  Christ  that  is  to  be.* 


> 

f 


*Verses  taken  from  the  work  of  Alfred  Tennyson  by 
permission  of  The  Maemillan  Company.  The  second  and 
third  lines  in  the  first  stanza  have  been  altered.  The  original 
were,  "Ring,  happy  bells,  across  the  snow;  The  year  is  going, 
let  him  go." 

The  other  poetic  selections  in  this  pamphlet  are  from 
the  bulletin,  The  Promotion  of  Peace,  distributed  by  The 
American  School  Peace  League. 


TO  overcome  the  evils 
of  life  it  is  necessary 
to  grapple  with  the 
hard  callous  facts. 


Anyone  wishing  to  help  the  good  work  and  distribute 
copies  of  this  pamphlet  may  obtain  them  at  the  following 
prices.  Single  copy,  20  cents;  10  copies,  $1.50;  100  copies, 
$12.00.  Postpaid.  Address:  P.  F.  Schulte,  Box  43,  Cedar 
Rapids,  Iowa. 


